How to Scale a Recipe
Doubling a recipe or cutting it in half sounds simple until you're juggling three-quarters of an egg. The clean way is to find your scale factor — desired servings divided by original servings — and multiply every ingredient by it. This tool gives you that factor and scales any amount you enter.
The one number that matters
Once you know the factor, everything follows: a 4-to-6 serving scale is 1.5x, so every quantity increases by half. Enter each ingredient's original amount to get its new one, or just keep the factor handy and multiply as you go.
What doesn't scale linearly
Ingredients scale cleanly; cooking does not. Pan size, baking time, and seasoning need judgment. A doubled cake batter won't fit the same pan or bake in the same time, and bold spices often need less than a straight multiply. Taste and watch rather than trusting the math blindly.
Frequently asked questions
- How do I double a recipe?
- Multiply every ingredient by 2. For odd targets, use desired divided by original servings as your factor.
- Does cooking time scale too?
- No. Time, pan size, and strong seasonings need adjustment by feel, not multiplication.
- How do I handle eggs when scaling?
- Round to whole eggs, or beat one and measure out the fraction by volume for precision.